The Arctic Cup starts today with exciting matches in St. Petersburg, Russia. The Arctic Cup is an International Ice Hockey tournament of Arctic Countries the Arctic states.
Russia hosts the event and invited the seven countries to participate in the tournament, where the men have to be at least 40 years old to participate. The tournament is meant for amateurs as well as for former professional sportsmen.
The Arctic Cup tournament's idea was arisen during the scientific conferences and oil-and-gas exhibitions, as a way to strengthen the friendship between the counties of the Arctic Council.
The purpose of the Arctic Cup is to draw attention to the problem of development of Arctic natural resources on the basis of peaceful and mutually beneficial cooperation.
The boundaries of the Arctic shelf are being claimed by five Arctic states, Russia, USA, Denmark, Norway and Canada. Although in September 2010 Russia and Norway reached an agreement on this issue, it's still far from being settled.
All expenses and travel is paid by Russia.
Three rounds are played before the semi-final.
Today's matches:
USA-Denmark (3-6)
Canada-Iceland
Sweden-Finland
Russia-Norway